Coinbase Opens IPO Access to US Retail Investors, Starting With Oura

A New Way to Get In Early

Coinbase just rolled out something pretty different for its US users: IPO allocations right inside the app. Instead of watching a hot new stock pop on day one and jumping in after the fact, eligible retail customers can now request shares at the actual IPO price before the stock even starts trading publicly.

The first company through the door is Oura, the wearable ring maker, with its IPO landing this week. Coinbase says allocations depend on demand, so you might get your full request, a partial fill, or nothing at all — same rules institutional investors have dealt with forever.

Why It Matters

This is a pretty clear signal that Coinbase wants to be more than just a crypto exchange. Behind the scenes, Coinbase Capital Markets handles the securities side while Apex takes care of execution and custody. Pair this with the pre-IPO futures they launched back in June (SpaceX was the first name there too), and it's obvious Coinbase is chasing that "everything exchange" label pretty hard.